They've definitely made some improvemenst, at least on papere. Smyly starting on the DL is a concern, especially with Felix and Kuma getting on in years. I was hoping we might get to let those guys rest every 5-6 starts during the season. Seems a bit less likely now.

First base is clearly a hole still. At least the ms were honest with themselves with the send down. All the other infield posted look great. So next year a great 1st baseman. Don't like platooning. It's gonna be a wild ride with all the hittin. Would like to see new young starters. Probably get an opportunity to find some with potential injuries to The Bear and Smiley. How that plays out will define us. I think Miranda fits the bill.

JSeahawks wrote:Allow me to save you guys from the misery. They'll play just well enough to give you some false hope. Then they will fall short in the end.

So no different than any team that just misses winning a championship. Great contribution...

Yeah, 'cept with the M's, it's been falling juuuuuuuust short of the playoffs. Teasing us all year at the chance to sneak into the playoffs, and then losing a few too many of the final games and coming up short. Just like the Seahawks for far too many years before the current regime came to town.

I'm a huge baseball fan and a long time baseball poster. In fact, I've been posting on baseball longer than I've been posting on the Seahawks. On Mariners forums, I go by the handle Mariner Analyst in case some of you and I might have rubbed elbows with one another in the past.

I completely agree with you that I have a funny feeling this particular M's team is going to sneak up on and surprise a lot of people. I love what Jerry Dipoto has done here this offseason in shoring up a lot of areas that were real weaknesses on this team last year. Not only has he improved the defense (especially up the middle) with the additions of Segura and Dyson ... but he has significantly upgraded the SPEED on this team. One of the biggest deficits that this team has had over the past several years since the departure of Ichiro ... is that we've not had a whole lot of real stolen base threats. The Mariners have been relegated to station to station baseball ... to relying on the home run to generate offense. I think fans are going to see an end to that (as they now have guys who are legitimate threats to swipe a bag) and a pretty exciting brand of baseball. JeDi has upgraded the bullpen ... and bolstered that starting rotation with better depth. As far as 1st Base being a potential hole -- Danny Valencia is a quality MLB bat and DJ Peterson is sitting right there in AAA (I fully expect to see him up in the Bigs with the club before the end of the season). If Drew Smyly can overcome his "soggy arm" and return to the form he showed here in Spring Training, then I really like the M's chances of ending their playoff drought this year. And if for some reason they don't, I don't see that as a slight against the team at all. After all, just look at the rest of the AL West. Top to bottom, that is honestly THE BEST division in baseball, as there are basically no cupcakes whatsoever. The Rangers, The Angels, The A's, and now even the Astros -- they're ALL very good baseball teams. I see the M's as being right there and think they WILL be in the hunt for October. Happy Opening Day People -- the annual day where optimism reigns supreme everywhere throughout all of baseball. Now -- PLAY BALL -- and Go M's!!!!

JSeahawks wrote:Allow me to save you guys from the misery. They'll play just well enough to give you some false hope. Then they will fall short in the end.

So no different than any team that just misses winning a championship. Great contribution...

Sadly, J is most likely right. But at some point we have to snap the streak. Longest playoff drought of any team in MLB belongs to us. I compare the Mariners to the Bills of the NFL. Excitement leading up to the season, followed by disappointment.

I think we will be good, but the AL looks tough this year. Cleveland should run away with their division. Boston should win the AL East. AL West seems up for grabs, but I think if you have to rank the teams we would be a close third. That leaves two wildcard spots. Toronto and whoever doesn't win the division between us, Texas and Houston will be fighting for two wildcard spots.

I say this every year, I go into the season with little to no expectations. I'm not sure if I consider myself a Mariners fan, but I do follow them closely. It's too painful to hope for something we have fallen short of the past 15 seasons. I like the direction the team is headed, but hate how small our window is.

Last edited by Hawk-Lock on Mon Apr 03, 2017 1:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Felix was effective and had a decent first start but I did not expect the bats to come up with just 3 hits.

The offense is going to need to score 5 a night to keep this team in the hunt. Over the course of the season I have doubts about Felix and Iwakuma's health, decline and many concerns about Gallardo. I do expect Miranda to have a good year.

I'm excited about the speed in our lineup. Servais needs to be aggressive this year with hit and runs and steals to make it work. Our defense should be stellar as well.

Sports Hernia wrote:It's a long season and the Houston starter is a stud, but 3 hits????Also Felix's fastball is batting practice quality at this point.His other pitches are good.

He needs to start pitching "backwards". Houston was sitting on his fastball.

Only one game but a disappointing start.

I wouldn't feel as bad if they were hitting and scoring runs.

Hmmm on the same post you call Felix's fastball BP (he hit 92 consistantly and bumped to 93 at times) And call Keuchel a stud with his fastball that sat regularly at 89???????

Location location location. Felix has had trouble locating his fastball the past couple of years ever since his velocity dipped.Keuchel outside of a couple pitches the M's hitters missed, was spot on with location.

Sports Hernia wrote:It's a long season and the Houston starter is a stud, but 3 hits????Also Felix's fastball is batting practice quality at this point.His other pitches are good.

He needs to start pitching "backwards". Houston was sitting on his fastball.

Only one game but a disappointing start.

I wouldn't feel as bad if they were hitting and scoring runs.

Hmmm on the same post you call Felix's fastball BP (he hit 92 consistantly and bumped to 93 at times) And call Keuchel a stud with his fastball that sat regularly at 89???????

Location location location. Felix has had trouble locating his fastball the past couple of years ever since his velocity dipped.Keuchel outside of a couple pitches the M's hitters missed, was spot on with location.

Felix made two mistakes... really actually only one. The pitch that Springer smoked which was the first hitter of the game. The HR by Correa was just a great piece of hitting Felix hit his spot most hitters either miss that or hit it foul tip of the cap to a young stud for keeping it fair and hitting it a mile.

Felix went 5. Struck out 6, only had around 60 or so pitches..... yesterday was a good outing by him.

I know we've been spoiled over the years by downright dominance. But yesterday was not last year......

I'm a huge baseball fan and a long time baseball poster. In fact, I've been posting on baseball longer than I've been posting on the Seahawks. On Mariners forums, I go by the handle Mariner Analyst in case some of you and I might have rubbed elbows with one another in the past.

I completely agree with you that I have a funny feeling this particular M's team is going to sneak up on and surprise a lot of people. I love what Jerry Dipoto has done here this offseason in shoring up a lot of areas that were real weaknesses on this team last year. Not only has he improved the defense (especially up the middle) with the additions of Segura and Dyson ... but he has significantly upgraded the SPEED on this team. One of the biggest deficits that this team has had over the past several years since the departure of Ichiro ... is that we've not had a whole lot of real stolen base threats. The Mariners have been relegated to station to station baseball ... to relying on the home run to generate offense. I think fans are going to see an end to that (as they now have guys who are legitimate threats to swipe a bag) and a pretty exciting brand of baseball. JeDi has upgraded the bullpen ... and bolstered that starting rotation with better depth. As far as 1st Base being a potential hole -- Danny Valencia is a quality MLB bat and DJ Peterson is sitting right there in AAA (I fully expect to see him up in the Bigs with the club before the end of the season). If Drew Smyly can overcome his "soggy arm" and return to the form he showed here in Spring Training, then I really like the M's chances of ending their playoff drought this year. And if for some reason they don't, I don't see that as a slight against the team at all. After all, just look at the rest of the AL West. Top to bottom, that is honestly THE BEST division in baseball, as there are basically no cupcakes whatsoever. The Rangers, The Angels, The A's, and now even the Astros -- they're ALL very good baseball teams. I see the M's as being right there and think they WILL be in the hunt for October. Happy Opening Day People -- the annual day where optimism reigns supreme everywhere throughout all of baseball. Now -- PLAY BALL -- and Go M's!!!!

MA

Any quality Mariners boards you'd recommend? I love talking M's here at .net but know the activity level is usually pretty low on the sports bar board.

I'm a huge baseball fan and a long time baseball poster. In fact, I've been posting on baseball longer than I've been posting on the Seahawks. On Mariners forums, I go by the handle Mariner Analyst in case some of you and I might have rubbed elbows with one another in the past.

I completely agree with you that I have a funny feeling this particular M's team is going to sneak up on and surprise a lot of people. I love what Jerry Dipoto has done here this offseason in shoring up a lot of areas that were real weaknesses on this team last year. Not only has he improved the defense (especially up the middle) with the additions of Segura and Dyson ... but he has significantly upgraded the SPEED on this team. One of the biggest deficits that this team has had over the past several years since the departure of Ichiro ... is that we've not had a whole lot of real stolen base threats. The Mariners have been relegated to station to station baseball ... to relying on the home run to generate offense. I think fans are going to see an end to that (as they now have guys who are legitimate threats to swipe a bag) and a pretty exciting brand of baseball. JeDi has upgraded the bullpen ... and bolstered that starting rotation with better depth. As far as 1st Base being a potential hole -- Danny Valencia is a quality MLB bat and DJ Peterson is sitting right there in AAA (I fully expect to see him up in the Bigs with the club before the end of the season). If Drew Smyly can overcome his "soggy arm" and return to the form he showed here in Spring Training, then I really like the M's chances of ending their playoff drought this year. And if for some reason they don't, I don't see that as a slight against the team at all. After all, just look at the rest of the AL West. Top to bottom, that is honestly THE BEST division in baseball, as there are basically no cupcakes whatsoever. The Rangers, The Angels, The A's, and now even the Astros -- they're ALL very good baseball teams. I see the M's as being right there and think they WILL be in the hunt for October. Happy Opening Day People -- the annual day where optimism reigns supreme everywhere throughout all of baseball. Now -- PLAY BALL -- and Go M's!!!!

MA

Any quality Mariners boards you'd recommend? I love talking M's here at .net but know the activity level is usually pretty low on the sports bar board.

U.S.S. Mariner is a good site with links to others..I doubt there is a very good heavily posted one due to bad years.I could be wrong.I wonder if FB has some M's fan board somewhere.

I'm a huge baseball fan and a long time baseball poster. In fact, I've been posting on baseball longer than I've been posting on the Seahawks. On Mariners forums, I go by the handle Mariner Analyst in case some of you and I might have rubbed elbows with one another in the past.

I completely agree with you that I have a funny feeling this particular M's team is going to sneak up on and surprise a lot of people. I love what Jerry Dipoto has done here this offseason in shoring up a lot of areas that were real weaknesses on this team last year. Not only has he improved the defense (especially up the middle) with the additions of Segura and Dyson ... but he has significantly upgraded the SPEED on this team. One of the biggest deficits that this team has had over the past several years since the departure of Ichiro ... is that we've not had a whole lot of real stolen base threats. The Mariners have been relegated to station to station baseball ... to relying on the home run to generate offense. I think fans are going to see an end to that (as they now have guys who are legitimate threats to swipe a bag) and a pretty exciting brand of baseball. JeDi has upgraded the bullpen ... and bolstered that starting rotation with better depth. As far as 1st Base being a potential hole -- Danny Valencia is a quality MLB bat and DJ Peterson is sitting right there in AAA (I fully expect to see him up in the Bigs with the club before the end of the season). If Drew Smyly can overcome his "soggy arm" and return to the form he showed here in Spring Training, then I really like the M's chances of ending their playoff drought this year. And if for some reason they don't, I don't see that as a slight against the team at all. After all, just look at the rest of the AL West. Top to bottom, that is honestly THE BEST division in baseball, as there are basically no cupcakes whatsoever. The Rangers, The Angels, The A's, and now even the Astros -- they're ALL very good baseball teams. I see the M's as being right there and think they WILL be in the hunt for October. Happy Opening Day People -- the annual day where optimism reigns supreme everywhere throughout all of baseball. Now -- PLAY BALL -- and Go M's!!!!

MA

Any quality Mariners boards you'd recommend? I love talking M's here at .net but know the activity level is usually pretty low on the sports bar board.

THAT's an easy one. I will tell you that it’s nowhere near the biggest forum as far as number of posters go, but in terms of overall class and quality of posters, IMO there is no better Mariner Forum than Mariner Central …

There are a LOT of really bright, knowledgeable, insightful, and just overall respectful baseball posters on that site. Lonnie, who owns and runs it is a VERY knowledgeable baseball mind – a really cool guy to talk M’s and baseball in general with. He’s dealt with some health issues the past few years, so doesn't post nearly to the level he used to. Prior to that though, he used to be really active in putting out real quality stuff on a regular basis. Lonnie used to go down to Spring Training every year … and he would give posters there daily updates on how players were looking and how the team was shaping up. He’d talk to coaches and players alike and post stuff -- insights and tidbits that you couldn’t get anywhere else on the ‘net. He also did a lot of podcasts in the past that he’d post for those who were interested in listening to good in depth baseball conversations. He’d not only do podcasts with posters (I did one with him once) … but he’d even get respected M’s reporters (like Shannon Drayer) from time to time. I hope he gets back to feeling better and to doing that again -- because that was great stuff!

When I had more time in the past, I’d do in depth research articles that I’d post there. These are a pair of in depth research posts that I was particularly proud of …

A few years ago, that site was really bustling with activity. Years of losing though has taken its toll, as there are nowhere near the number of posters there used to be. Still in my opinion though, Mariner Central is the class Mariner forum out there. AND – I fully believe that WHEN the M’s turn things around and start winning … fans will be back in droves once again. If you’re looking for a place to talk baseball with guys who know their stuff (and have a great sense of humor in doing so), then that’s the place for you. I still consider it home in many ways … and plan on posting there from time to time as the season goes on.

I'm a huge baseball fan and a long time baseball poster. In fact, I've been posting on baseball longer than I've been posting on the Seahawks. On Mariners forums, I go by the handle Mariner Analyst in case some of you and I might have rubbed elbows with one another in the past.

I completely agree with you that I have a funny feeling this particular M's team is going to sneak up on and surprise a lot of people. I love what Jerry Dipoto has done here this offseason in shoring up a lot of areas that were real weaknesses on this team last year. Not only has he improved the defense (especially up the middle) with the additions of Segura and Dyson ... but he has significantly upgraded the SPEED on this team. One of the biggest deficits that this team has had over the past several years since the departure of Ichiro ... is that we've not had a whole lot of real stolen base threats. The Mariners have been relegated to station to station baseball ... to relying on the home run to generate offense. I think fans are going to see an end to that (as they now have guys who are legitimate threats to swipe a bag) and a pretty exciting brand of baseball. JeDi has upgraded the bullpen ... and bolstered that starting rotation with better depth. As far as 1st Base being a potential hole -- Danny Valencia is a quality MLB bat and DJ Peterson is sitting right there in AAA (I fully expect to see him up in the Bigs with the club before the end of the season). If Drew Smyly can overcome his "soggy arm" and return to the form he showed here in Spring Training, then I really like the M's chances of ending their playoff drought this year. And if for some reason they don't, I don't see that as a slight against the team at all. After all, just look at the rest of the AL West. Top to bottom, that is honestly THE BEST division in baseball, as there are basically no cupcakes whatsoever. The Rangers, The Angels, The A's, and now even the Astros -- they're ALL very good baseball teams. I see the M's as being right there and think they WILL be in the hunt for October. Happy Opening Day People -- the annual day where optimism reigns supreme everywhere throughout all of baseball. Now -- PLAY BALL -- and Go M's!!!!

MA

Any quality Mariners boards you'd recommend? I love talking M's here at .net but know the activity level is usually pretty low on the sports bar board.

THAT's an easy one. I will tell you that it’s nowhere near the biggest forum as far as number of posters go, but in terms of overall class and quality of posters, IMO there is no better Mariner Forum than Mariner Central …

There are a LOT of really bright, knowledgeable, insightful, and just overall respectful baseball posters on that site. Lonnie, who owns and runs it is a VERY knowledgeable baseball mind – a really cool guy to talk M’s and baseball in general with. He’s dealt with some health issues the past few years, so doesn't post nearly to the level he used to. Prior to that though, he used to be really active in putting out real quality stuff on a regular basis. Lonnie used to go down to Spring Training every year … and he would give posters there daily updates on how players were looking and how the team was shaping up. He’d talk to coaches and players alike and post stuff -- insights and tidbits that you couldn’t get anywhere else on the ‘net. He also did a lot of podcasts in the past that he’d post for those who were interested in listening to good in depth baseball conversations. He’d not only do podcasts with posters (I did one with him once) … but he’d even get respected M’s reporters (like Shannon Drayer) from time to time. I hope he gets back to feeling better and to doing that again -- because that was great stuff!

When I had more time in the past, I’d do in depth research articles that I’d post there. These are a pair of in depth research posts that I was particularly proud of …

A few years ago, that site was really bustling with activity. Years of losing though has taken its toll, as there are nowhere near the number of posters there used to be. Still in my opinion though, Mariner Central is the class Mariner forum out there. AND – I fully believe that WHEN the M’s turn things around and start winning … fans will be back in droves once again. If you’re looking for a place to talk baseball with guys who know their stuff (and have a great sense of humor in doing so), then that’s the place for you. I still consider it home in many ways … and plan on posting there from time to time as the season goes on.

Hawkscanner wrote:THAT's an easy one. I will tell you that it’s nowhere near the biggest forum as far as number of posters go, but in terms of overall class and quality of posters, IMO there is no better Mariner Forum than Mariner Central …

There are a LOT of really bright, knowledgeable, insightful, and just overall respectful baseball posters on that site. Lonnie, who owns and runs it is a VERY knowledgeable baseball mind – a really cool guy to talk M’s and baseball in general with. He’s dealt with some health issues the past few years, so doesn't post nearly to the level he used to. Prior to that though, he used to be really active in putting out real quality stuff on a regular basis. Lonnie used to go down to Spring Training every year … and he would give posters there daily updates on how players were looking and how the team was shaping up. He’d talk to coaches and players alike and post stuff -- insights and tidbits that you couldn’t get anywhere else on the ‘net. He also did a lot of podcasts in the past that he’d post for those who were interested in listening to good in depth baseball conversations. He’d not only do podcasts with posters (I did one with him once) … but he’d even get respected M’s reporters (like Shannon Drayer) from time to time. I hope he gets back to feeling better and to doing that again -- because that was great stuff!

When I had more time in the past, I’d do in depth research articles that I’d post there. These are a pair of in depth research posts that I was particularly proud of …

A few years ago, that site was really bustling with activity. Years of losing though has taken its toll, as there are nowhere near the number of posters there used to be. Still in my opinion though, Mariner Central is the class Mariner forum out there. AND – I fully believe that WHEN the M’s turn things around and start winning … fans will be back in droves once again. If you’re looking for a place to talk baseball with guys who know their stuff (and have a great sense of humor in doing so), then that’s the place for you. I still consider it home in many ways … and plan on posting there from time to time as the season goes on.

MA

gowazzu02 wrote:thx dude

I'll also give a shout out on another site that I also visit every now and then. And that's a forum that's simply called Seattle Sports Insider ...

The site's run by a guy named Jeff, who goes both by the handle of Jemanji -- or the one he's more well known for in Mariner posting circles -- Dr. Detecto. The good Doctor is a pretty smart cookie -- very sharp, savvy baseball mind -- and very witty and just flat out entertaining. He's a very creative writer, so expect to see creatively entertaining and insightful posts.

If you page down into the comments of each of those posts, you'll find several long time Mariner posters who have frequented both Mariner Central, the Seattle Times, and other forums -- many of whom I've been interacting with for over 10 years now (IceBreaker X, G_Moneyball, tradedollarnut, TopCat, DaddyO, and others). These guys are good baseball minds in their own right and fun to talk Mariners with.

Un-freaking believable. *Sigh* [Shaking my head] I know that we're only 3 games into a long 162 game season ... but MAN, this feels like the same kind of luck the Mariners been having the last few years.

Seahaaaawks wrote:My goodness!!!! Being a M's fan hurts so much. Celine Dion says it best "it's all coming back to me now" ooohhhh the heartache. Bases loaded no outs and we score 1 run via the walk. Then 2 outs 3-2 count bottom of 13 and Springer yorks a 3 run walk off. Unbelievable! I can't believe it!!!! Ya ya ya ya it's early. Don't wanna hear it

Don't forget that the game winner landed in the front row of the shortest left field porch in baseball.

Yep. Literally any other ball park in MLB and that's a pop fly out and a win for the Mariners. Doesn't matter though because it wasn't any other ball park.

For only being 3 games into a damn long season, that was an awfully crushing loss. I can't believe I'm saying this already, but it feels like this team really needs a win.

*sigh*

Yup im just disappointed we couldn't take advantage. Houston went yabo to left field 4 times in 3 games. Granted the first Springer and Correa homers leave any yard. But the McCan and game winner last night are lazy fly balls in most.